Early exit by Bruins turns thoughts toward next season

Friday's player meetings with general manager Peter Chiarelli and coach Claude Julien will begin the process of shaping the plan for the summer and the 2014-15 season, one in which the Bruins very much plan to contend for the Stanley Cup again.

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By Dan CagenDaily News staff

MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA

By Dan CagenDaily News staff

Posted May. 15, 2014 at 7:31 PM
Updated May 15, 2014 at 7:48 PM

By Dan CagenDaily News staff

Posted May. 15, 2014 at 7:31 PM
Updated May 15, 2014 at 7:48 PM

» Social News

BOSTON — On Friday, the Bruins had planned to hold a practice to lead into Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Instead, they'll hold exit interviews. The players will clean out their stalls for the final time, wiping away the final residue of a wildly successful regular season that ended Wednesday night with an early playoff exit.

The meetings with general manager Peter Chiarelli and coach Claude Julien will begin the process of shaping the plan for the summer and the 2014-15 season, one in which the Bruins very much plan to contend for the Stanley Cup again.

Most of the hard labor to that goal has been done. Last summer, Patrice Bergeron and Tuukka Rask signed eight-year contracts. Zdeno Chara has three seasons left on his deal. But there is work to be done to freshen up.

Two of their three players in their upper 30s struggled at the tail end of the series, Chara and Shawn Thornton. One is far more important than the other, but it could be Thornton who will look for work elsewhere.

Chara was off his game the last two games of the series, looking lost at times and not nearly as physical as usual. Chara is 37 years old and has shown cracks at the end of the postseason two straight years. Bruins president Cam Neely said on a radio station Thursday that Chara was not injured.

The mortality of their aging captain underscores the need for Dennis Seidenberg to return, their young defensemen to carry more weight next season, and potential reinforcements to join the blue line. Chiarelli hinted at the trading deadline that he could revisit some deals that didn't get through, perhaps including the reported deal with the Canucks for left-shot defenseman Alex Edler.

Thornton and his Merlot linemates could not swing the momentum against the Canadiens the way they did to so many teams in previous playoff series. They were chasing the game and the Habs. It was a key part of Montreal leading the majority of the series.

At nearly 37 years old, Thornton is an unrestricted free agent. The Bruins could use a quicker player in their lineup; with the new playoff format, there could be a running loop of the speedy Red Wings and Canadiens in the postseason. The Bruins will not abandon their mash-and-bang style, but they can't afford to be caught off-stride again. The Habs have gone 10-5 against Boston the last two seasons.

Some of Chiarelli's first tasks will be locking up his young talent. Torey Krug and Reilly Smith are restricted free agents. Both came up big in the playoffs after solid first full NHL seasons, and could triple their current salaries ($900,000 for Smith, $925,000 for Krug).

Matt Bartkowski also is a restricted free agent and could double his current $650,000 cap hit. Jordan Caron and potential backup goalie Niklas Svedberg also are RFAs.

Page 2 of 2 - Chiarelli may also look to lock up centers David Krejci and Carl Soderberg, both entering the final year of their contracts.

The salary cap will be in the $70 million range once the league finalizes its revenue numbers. The Bruins already have around $62 million committed to next season. If they go over the cap, they can subtract Marc Savard's $4 million cap hit by putting him back on long-term injured reserve. Add in the new contracts for the kids, and that leaves a few million bucks.

But the loan they applied for with the Jarome Iginla contract this season will be due. Snug to the cap last summer, Chiarelli got creative in signing Iginla. As an over-35 player, Iginla was eligible for a one-year, bonus-laden deal. Only $1.8 million of the potential $6 million in Iginla's contract counted against the cap.

But in doing so, the Bruins went over the bonus overage and will carry that amount against them in 2014-15. That figure is expected to be over $4 million.

It could come back to bite them if they want to bring Iginla back. The Bruins were thrilled with Iginla's on-ice production and off-ice presence in the dressing room.

Entering his age-37 season, Iginla wants to play until he's 40. He was willing to take a one-year contract last summer, but doing so again would put him back on the open market as a 38-year-old next summer. The structure of the bonus contract he had this season only applies to a one-year contract, so for Iginla to get long-term security he could not take the same deal with the Bruins.

The Bruins could open up cap space with other moves. They did not use either of their two compliance buyouts last summer, a roster move instituted after the lockout that expires after this offseason. Candidates to be bought out include Chris Kelly (two years remaining with a $3 million cap hit), Gregory Campbell (one year, $1.6 million), Daniel Paille (one year, $1.3 million) and Adam McQuaid (one year, $1.56 million).

Kelly and McQuaid are coming off injuries, and may not be eligible to be bought out.

The Bruins could also look for reinforcements on the trade market. Chiarelli has pieces whose path to the varsity could be blocked by the Boston incumbents and could be appealing elsewhere. That list includes centers Ryan Spooner and Alexander Khokhlachev and defenseman David Warsofsky.

Decisions will be made. They're just being discussed a lot sooner than any of the Bruins would have hoped.

Dan Cagen can be reached at 508-626-3848 or dcagen@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @DanCagen.